[Tigers] Shelby as Sunbeam Tiger manufacturer?

[Ron Fraser]

Tom

                You raise some interesting points.

Yes, British pride at Rootes and the British auto union was probably a major factor.

 

We all have a tendency to refer to Shelby and Shelby American as being the same; that in itself can become confusing; we need to be more specific with our words.

 

We lose track of the backstory or the truth that George and a few others were the people responsible for making the Shelby Tiger Prototype.  It is very difficult today to say how involved Shelby was with the project.   His main concern at the time was the Cobra, Cobra racing and good PR.

 

Your question about sending rolling chassis to the USA is a good one.   My guess is Shelby would have tried to support that since he was doing that with the Cobra but I think Rootes was looking for more production capabilities with sooner delivery of production cars for sale.   Packaging and shipping a rolling chassis would be more expensive than shipping engine assemblies. 

 

Ron Fraser

 

From: Tom Witt [mailto:atwittsend at verizon.net] 
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2016 5:50 PM
To: Ron Fraser <rfraser at bluefrog.com>; 'Teepen, Jere' <jteepen at usatoday.com>; tigers at Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Shelby as Sunbeam Tiger manufacturer?

 

I wonder if national pride had any consideration with Shelby not assembling the cars?  That being the Tiger being seen more as an American hot rod, than a British sports car?  From what I heard in George Boskoff’s talk it seemed more like the Tiger prototype was assigned to Boskoff to ‘figure out’ by himself. If there was a major issue (like bending the steering arms) he would bounce the matter off Shelby. So, while the Shelby name is associated with the Tiger Shelby himself seemed to have little to do with the car. When the prototype was completed there were no drawings etc. with Boskoff only mentioning he had “a few templates.” It kind of leads one to question just how interested Shelby really was.

 

Another thing to consider is; is it cheaper to send an American engine/trans to England - only to send it right back in a complete car..., or to send rolling, but non-powered cars and all the transport logistics (and cost) that would require?  

 

BTW, the past five or so posts I’ve made to the list, over a number of months, have not appeared. This even with deleting the Tigers list information at the bottom and sending as plain text. So, this may only appear if Ron or Jere reply back to the list.

From:  <mailto:tigers at autox.team.net> Ron Fraser via Tigers 

Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2016 8:03 AM

To:  <mailto:jteepen at usatoday.com> 'Teepen, Jere' ;  <mailto:tigers at Autox.Team.Net> tigers at Autox.Team.Net 

Subject: Re: [Tigers] Shelby as Sunbeam Tiger manufacturer?

 

According to TBON both the Shelby and Miles Alpine V-8s were Series II.  The Jensen Project Prototype was a Series III.

 

G. Robson Book – my guess is Shelby wanted to change the steering rack position and the front suspension geometry.  I also believe the next concern was the rear axle and suspension.  These seem to have been his main concerns and there were probably others.  Funny, the same ones we have today.  Maybe a look at the race Tigers would give more hints about the direction he envisioned.  Remember $10,000 for the Shelby Alpine V-8 only goes so far and Rootes was not interested in making major, read that expensive changes to the Alpine platform.

 

Ron Fraser

 

From: Tigers [ <mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net> mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Teepen, Jere via Tigers
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2016 6:31 PM
To: J Clark < <mailto:icanhandyman at yahoo.com> icanhandyman at yahoo.com>;  <mailto:tigers at autox.team.net> tigers at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Shelby as Sunbeam Tiger manufacturer?

 

I have no knowledge about the changes Shelby may have made if production had gone that way, but from what I recall, the first V-8 Alpines were Series 2 (Ken Miles) and 3 (Shelby). 

 

I am now curious too, has there been any information as to what Shelby may have proposed?

 

From: Tigers [ <mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net> mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of J Clark via Tigers
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2016 12:14 AM
To:  <mailto:tigers at autox.team.net> tigers at autox.team.net
Subject: [Tigers] Shelby as Sunbeam Tiger manufacturer?

 

 

Was reading the Tiger Wikipedia and the reference (citing the G. Robson book, "Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger- The complete Story") 

to Carroll Shelby's initial desire to build the car. Though I do own a copy of this book I must admit that this is news to me. 

Upon reading what Robson wrote, it still left me with a couple of questions. Do any of you folks know what Shelby, according to

Robson, had in mind when he proposed "radical modification of the Alpine's structure and chassis"? One wonders how things may

have played out in the big scheme of things if Rootes had given Shelby the gig, rather than Jensen.

 

Graham Robson also makes reference to some of the prototypes being built with SIII body shells. I believe this is hogwash,

leading me to question the veracity of the rest of the book's contents.

 

One more thing. Is my punctuation in this text coming through legibly? 

 

                                                                                  Regards,

                                                                                     Jon

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